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.So I am jealous of my small kingdom, the nursery, especially as I know that in a year or so I shall be replaced by a tutor.‘No doubt,’ she went on, ‘you have thought me unaffectionate towards the child.The truth is that I dare not allow myself to become too attached to him, Mademoiselle.But he does need love, and you have shown yourself to be a generous and warm-hearted lady.So—please feel free to visit the nursery whenever you wish.’‘Thank you, Nurse Varna,’ Caroline said gently, her heart touched by the woman’s speech, but she reflected sadly that she, in turn, could hardly afford to become attached to Michael.In the nursery, she found the boy less than attentive as she began to read to him.He wriggled restlessly in bed, and several times felt for something under his pillow.Caroline laid the book aside.‘What is it, Michael? What are you hiding under your pillow?’‘It’s a treasure, Marisha,’ he whispered conspiratorially.‘The best kind of treasure there is—only, I know Nurse Varna will throw it on the fire the minute she sees it.’Caroline smiled.‘You’d better show me.’He brought out something wrapped in a handkerchief, and as he proudly unfolded it Caroline thought, with a shudder, that for once she was in full agreement with Nurse Varna.Michael’s ‘treasure’ was the bleached skeleton of some small rodent.‘Oh, Michael, it’s revolting!’ she cried.‘It isn’t! It’s beautiful!’ he defended.‘Konstantin—that’s one of the grooms—says it must be at least ten years old.I found it in the stables.It’s the best treasure I’ve ever found.’‘But what do you want it for?’‘Just to keep.It’s a treasure.Marisha,’ his voice turned wheedling, ‘would you hide it in the secret place for me? I didn’t have time to do it myself, and if Nurse Varna comes to look at me when I’m asleep, and she finds it, she’ll fling it straight on the fire.Would you hide it for me, Marisha?’Caroline looked doubtfully at the skeleton.It was certainly old, and the passage of time and the elements had left it perfectly clean.Michael’s trophy seemed grisly to her, but in the manner of small boys he valued it highly, and it seemed harmless enough to indulge him.So, accepting the parcel gingerly, Caroline agreed to hide it for him.In the unused wing of the house, she looked for the carved flower shape with seven petals instead of five.Even armed with the knowledge of its existence, it was astonishingly difficult to find, and perhaps only a perceptive and inquisitive child was likely to have discovered it in the first place.But after some searching she found it, and manipulated it in the way Michael had demonstrated.She had placed the skeleton on a shelf with his other treasures and was about to close the door again, when it occurred to her that this was the ideal opportunity to explore the secret of the second door.The servants were busy; the aunts were resting before dinner as guests were expected, and no one was likely to miss her for a few minutes.A close inspection revealed that she had been right.The shelved section of the cupboard was, indeed, a second door.But it had obviously not been opened for many years, for it required all her strength to move it on its hinges.At last it creaked open, revealing wooden stairs rotten in places.It was quite dark below, so she closed the carved panel again and went in search of a branch of candles.Then, holding up the hem of her gown with her free hand, she prepared to descend the wooden stairs.At the very least, she had expected to find a medieval oubliette complete with instruments of torture.The reality proved to be far more mundane.She found herself in an underground cellar, dank and musty with disuse, and containing not even so much as a discarded and broken piece of furniture.Then, as she turned a corner she found herself in a longer underground chamber, in the centre of which stood a modern-looking piece of machinery.Caroline moved forward curiously to examine it.It was a printing press.A sheaf of papers had been stacked on a bench beside it, and as she picked one up to study it by candlelight she felt a stab of shocked recognition.The stack of papers were placards, identical to the ones which the Dmitris had been guilty of possessing.Addressed to the Romanov Dynasty and more particularly the Czar, its message read:‘Your military forces are no more than a cruel and corrupt army of thieves; your tribunals make a mockery of justice, for a man’s innocence or guilt is judged by the number of officials he can afford to bribe
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